Luciano: Origin of counterfeit cash remains a mystery

Saturday

Mar 22, 2014 at 2:30 PM

Phil Luciano Journal Star columnist @lucianophil

So where did all the funny money come from? And is any still lurking out there? Perhaps in your billfold?

Three times lately, local businesses discovered counterfeit $20 bills. As to the possible source, there are several stories and theories, perhaps pointing in the same, strange direction: toward a small Peoria eatery, where bills supposedly were cooked up in back and sold at half-value.

The scope of the targeted victims is small but peculiar. Ronald McDonald avoided the sting of the scam; some local strippers did not.

On Feb. 24, Big Al’s was the first business to report finding fraudulent currency. Customers can see all sorts of fake things at a striptease parlor, but Zuccarini and his staff are more concerned with fake bills. He says a spate of counterfeits wafts into his place every once in a while. This time, Big Al’s was targeted by four customers: two young men and two young women.

“Never seen them before,” Zuccarini says.

Later, he looked at security video to review what happened. The sly quartet moved $20 bills, but not much via waitresses and bartenders. Mostly, when dancers were between acts, the quartet would ask to exchange $20 bills for dancers’ dollar bills. That way, they’d have more dollar bills available to tip dancers on-stage (Yes, dollar tips. Indeed, for many strippers, making a living is based on a quantity, not quality, of gratuities).

The foursome also exchanged bills with other customers, for the same alleged reason. About 1 a.m., one customer noticed his new $20 bill felt weird. The customer talked with Big Al’s staff, who contacted police. As officers arrived to investigate, staffers checked their tills: they found more fake $20s — hundreds of dollars worth, police say.

A few days later, the scam was mentioned among Journal Star police briefs. Spotting that story was the owner of Elliot’s Cabaret Diner, 7807 N. University St. He checked his deposit bags from the week and found three fake $20s in the deposit bag from the previous Monday, the same day Big Al’s had been hit.

Counterfeiting is rare in central Illinois, but not unheard-of. Several times over the past decade, counterfeiters have been prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Peoria.

One of the biggest local operations in recent memory occurred in 2005. That year saw an explosion of fake bills statewide, with at least $74,000 recovered by federal agents in downstate alone. Meanwhile, about $2,100 in phony money was passed in Peoria and Bartonville, after two men used a common copier to crank out high-quality greenbacks.

At sentencing — one man got 21 months in prison, the other got 15 months — the pair were ordered to pay $280 restitution to businesses that had been victimized. One of the counterfeiters blamed his drug habit, saying he’d made fake bills to buy cocaine from his dealers. The judge remarked that the counterfeiter was lucky to be alive, adding, “These type of people don’t have the best sense of humor when it comes to this sort of stuff.”

Indeed, if you get stuck with a fake bill, you’re likely out of luck. That’s why banks and businesses train clerks to be persnickety with bills, especially $20s — the most commonly counterfeited currency. With training, clerks can detect illicit bills just by touch.

The Secret Service, which investigates counterfeiting schemes, offers suggestions for anyone wanting to examine a bill for legitimacy: http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml

Statistically speaking, you stand little risk of getting stuck. Despite technology, counterfeiting is a hard crime to pull off for long.

A 2010 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago states that in 2005, of $759 billion in U.S. currency circulated worldwide, $61 million was counterfeit — an almost negligible percentage. Of that phony money, $56.2 million circulated in the United States — or, 20 cents per person.

The report states that just “minimal authentication” efforts turn up all but perhaps three of any 100,000 notes, of all denominations. Further, the report states, most money circulates into banks usually within a few days. Faced with heightened detection at local thrifts, counterfeiting is a short-term, small-scale operation, the report states.

So what happened in Peoria?

It’s hard to tell. Peoria police have turned over the fake bills and information to the Secret Service, which didn’t return a call for this story. Peoria Police Capt. Mike Eddlemon says investigators have heard of no large deposits of fake currency; however, banks sometimes contact the Secret Service directly with such issues.

So, as to the counterfeiting source, that leaves us with just a few clues.

After the police call to Big Al’s, officers were told about a group of men in the North Valley who had been selling bogus bills. Further, Zuccarini, Big Al’s owner, says he has heard that the same group cranked out the currency in the rear of an eatery, selling $1,000 worth for $500 in real cash. How much total? We don’t know.

But if that’s how the operation ran, perhaps it ended fast. Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady says he has heard of just three reports of fake bills: the cases at Big Al’s and Elliot’s, plus a March 13 incident at the McDonald’s at 3717 N. Prospect Road in Peoria Heights.

There, workers had been on alert after other area McDonald’s had found counterfeit $20 bills, according to a Peoria Heights police report. At the Height’s McDonald’s, employees called police after a 25-year-old Peoria man had used a suspicious $20 bill to buy food.

Jacob Kenney, 2408 NE Monroe St., insisted to police he did not know the money was fake. He said he’d received the bill at a party, while making change for roughnecks.

That’s a rather unusual sequence of events. Making change at a party? What kind of party? He’s a little old for a kegger. And I doubt they were selling Mary Kay to gang-bangers.

At the McDonald’s, Kenney offered to police to pay for his food with other cash on him. But police took him to county jail, where he was booked on charges of forgery and theft under $500. While in jail, he was given a notice to appear in court; he didn’t have to post any cash for bail.

That’s just as well. Sometimes, you just can’t be sure about cash.

PHIL LUCIANO is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano, 686-3155 or (800) 225- 5757, Ext. 3155. Follow him on Twitter @LucianoPhil.

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